Spontaneous pneumothorax in scleroderma.

Though the association between pulmonary fibrosis and scleroderma has been recognized for over 60 years (Finlay, 1891), it is only within the last decade that cyst formation has been recognized as a possible part of the lung condition, following the detailed description by Getzowa (1945) of the morbid anatomy and histology of two fatal cases. Since then a considerable literature has arisen. Some of the cases reported were diagnosed only on radiological grounds (Church and Ellis, 1950; Hayman and Hunt, 1952; Ellman and Cudcowicz, 1954; Dawson, 1955), but others have been confirmed at necropsy (Spain and Thomas, 1950; Aronson and Wallerstein, 1950; Evans and Parker, 1954). We are adding the following case to the literature because it appears to be the first described in which this cystic element presented itself clinically by the production of a fatal spontaneous pneumothorax.